The Cheyenne Mountain volleyball team has developed a winning tradition with eight straight trips to the 4A state tournament, three straight state finals appearances and two straight state titles. But winning may not be the Indians’ most important tradition.

State trips are all routine for the top-seeded Indians, starting Thursday with a stop at a Carrabba’s Italian Grill just off I-225 in Denver before unloading at “the same hotel” — a Holiday Inn about 10 minutes from the Denver Coliseum — coach David Barkley explained.

“We sit at the exact same table at the exact same restaurant,” senior captain Taylor Michel said. “We’ve even tried to see if we could get the same waitress.”

Michel said Barkley knows that waitresses name, but he denied that claim.

“And we wear our white uniforms the first day, then maroon the second,” said junior captain Janae Vander Ploeg, who leads the team with 257 kills.

The Indians also have dinner every Friday night at the Brodie family’s house — a ritual started when Andrea and Laura Brodie were both all-state players at Cheyenne Mountain. Both have since graduated, but their grandparents keep inviting the team back.

“It’s pretty crazy, but it just makes it fun,” Michel said of the traditions. “It makes it a really fun experience for girls who haven’t gone to state before.”

And this will be the first state tournament for many. Only five of this year’s 14 players were at state last year and just two were starters.

“But the group that is here is very talented and they do possess the same desire to achieve the same victory,” Barkley said.

The Indians (23-3) are 18-0 against 4A competition, with their three losses coming against 5A state-bound teams Pine Creek, Doherty and Ponderosa. But they’re not resting on those laurels or any other.

“I think they’re confident,” Barkley said. “But they don’t feel like just showing up and wearing a Cheyenne Mountain uniform is going to win matches or games for us. Even with the confidence, they know they have tow in every point with the best effort, the most focused effort they have.”

The team appeared loose at Wednesday’s final home practice, not showing any of the pressure that might haunt a group trying to carry on the championship tradition.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re going into this calm,” Michel said. “Because we’re definitely going into it to get something done — we’re gonna try to win state.”

Junior outside hitter Janae Vander Ploeg leads two-time defending 4A state champion Cheyenne Mountain with 257 kills. Photo by BRANDON IWAMOTO, THE GAZETTE